Tearing Him to Pieces
by Vapor2008
Summary: She was fully aware of what she was doing to him. Every touch, every word, every look. There was no way she couldn’t know what she was doing to him.


_Disclaimer: Own Chuck? Seriously, if I owned Chuck, would I be a broke college kid?_

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same."-Fray (I think)

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She was fully aware of what she was doing to him. Every touch, every word, every look. There was no way she couldn't know what she was doing to him. He showed her. Every time he looked at her the pain in his eyes was unbearable. More than anything else she wished she could stop doing this, but she had no choice. She knew what they both wanted. What she had come to need, but she also knew what he needed. Or at least, what she thought he needed. He needed to be protected. There was no other way for him to stay alive. She had a job to do. A job that was to keep him alive and she would do her job at all costs. So, even though it ripped her heart out to see him walk away from her, she knew she had to do it. Even if it meant she lost the love of Chuck Bartowski.

Two weeks earlier

Chuck knew he shouldn't have downloaded the new intersect. He knew that he had just doomed himself to a life of lies and deception, but he had also doomed himself to a life of Sarah, and that was worth it all. No intersect meant no Casey, it meant no Sarah, so he did the only thing he could to keep them in his life.

Sure, he would like to say he did it to help to government; to better protect the country, but that would be a lie. He did it for himself. He did it to keep the greatest part of his life in his life.

Standing here now, with Casey and Sarah looking at him like he was an alien, Chuck had a moment of doubt as to whether or not he had done the right thing. It quickly vanished though. He couldn't doubt it now… Too late, the choice was already made.

"Guys, what is that thing?" Chuck motioned with his head to the burnt out intersect cube. "What did they have in there?"

Casey and Sarah didn't know what to say. Neither of them had been briefed about what the new intersect was capable of, although now they had a fairly good idea. Sarah looked back to the spot where Bryce had been.

"What happened?"

For a second, Chuck couldn't answer. The memory of Bryce dying in front of him was obviously still very real.

"He was already hit by the time I got in here. He gave me a disk and told me to destroy the intersect. He said Fulcrum didn't matter anymore; that they were only one part of the ring. He said the new intersect was too powerful; it had to be destroyed. He as counting on me, and I let him down."

Sarah's gaze shot up to meet Chucks.

"You didn't let him down Chuck. You did destroy it. Even though he might not have wanted you to have it again, Fulcrum and whoever these guys are will never be able to have it. You did what he asked you to, you just did it a different way than he would have wanted."

"Hey, I hate to break this up, but we need to get out of here. I don't think these are the only guys around we should worry about. We need to call for help, take these guys into custody, and figure out what's going on with Chuck."

Chuck looked to Casey, almost having completely forgotten he was in the room. Quickly, Chuck got his phone out and tossed it to Casey who made the necessary calls. A few hours later they were sitting in the Castle, waiting for General Beckman to contact them.

Sarah had been sitting, quietly observing Chuck since they had gotten back. He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but hey, for all she knew he could be now. She quietly moved to his side and lightly touched his arm.

"Chuck? Are you okay?"

He looked at her with a completely masked expression. She couldn't read him and that was a first for her. She could always read Chuck. Especially his eyes, but now she saw nothing by a void, and that was the scariest thing ever.

"It's never going to end Sarah. I will never be normal again. They won't let you stay this time. I have to be taken away. This is too dangerous to be left out here in public. I should be locked up where I can't hurt anyone. You guys can't even know what I'm now capable of."

Sarah didn't even know how to respond and was thankful when Casey saved her from having to.

"Shut it Bartowski. We haven't fought as hard as we have, only to have to locked up in a bunker now. No one's going anywhere."

Neither Sarah nor Chuck could believe what they had just heard come out of Casey's mouth. They would have never expected him to be against putting Chuck in a bunker and letting him go back to doing what he loved most.

Just then, General Beckman appeared on the screen.

"Agent Walker, Colonel Casey, Mr. Bartowski. I believe you have a lot of explaining to do."

For the next hour they tried to explain everything that had happened to them. When it got to the part where Chuck downloaded the new intersect General Beckman stopped them.

"You're telling me that the most powerful version of the intersect ever has been destroyed and the only copy is again located in Mr. Bartowski? Do you even know what we had the intersect programmed to do?"

Chuck let out a laugh.

"Do I know what the new Intersect is capable of? Yeah, I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea. You were going to create an army to fight Fulcrum; an army that no one would have been able to stop. I just don't understand why you were willing to destroy so many good men like that?"

"Mr. Bartowski, our reasons for doing what we do are none of your concern. All you should be concerned about is how you are going to spend your time in a bunker for the rest of your life."

"Excuse me General, but I don't think that's necessary."

"Please, do explain Colonel Casey."

"Well, like Bartowski here said, you were going to create an army to fight Fulcrum. As it turns out you don't have an army, you just have him. Is it really the smartest choice to lock up our powerful weapon against Fulcrum?"

"Colonel. Do you really think that you and Agent Walker can continue to keep Mr. Bartowski safe?"

Sarah glanced at Chuck before answering that question.

"I don't think we have a choice General."

General Beckman seemed to be thinking things over carefully for a few moments.

"Fine. I can see the advantage to keeping Mr. Bartowski out where we can utilize his new abilities, but I must stress how much more important it is to keep him alive now. He's the only way we will ever be able to beat Fulcrum and the ring."

Chuck looked up at her.

"And if I may ask General, what is the ring?"

General Beckman looked straight at Chuck.

"They are people you should be afraid of facing Mr. Bartowski."

With that she cut off her end of the transmission and the screen went black.

This is my first Chuck fic. I've written quite a few for NCIS, so you don't need to go easy on me. I'm really not sure how long this will end up being. Probably only one more chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!!


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